Medicare Enrollment by Age Group, 2008 - 2017

Description: The number of people enrolled in Medicare has increased gradually over time. There were 47.9 million beneficiaries in 2008 and 61.4 million beneficiaries in 2017. The age distribution of the population has remained fairly stable over time.

Technical Notes: Counts include all Medicare beneficiaries who were enrolled in Medicare on or after January 1 of the year. Age is calculated based on the age of the Medicare beneficiary as of December 31. If the beneficiary expired, the age is calculated based on age at time of death.

Medicare Enrollment by Race, 2008 - 2017

Description: The racial distribution of Medicare beneficiaries has changed very little over time. There are proportionately fewer whites in 2017 compared to 2008 (79.5% versus 83.1%, respectively).

Technical Notes: Counts include all Medicare beneficiaries who were enrolled in Medicare on or after January 1 of the year. American Indian, Native American, Other, and Unknown races are grouped together due to small cell sizes. The race variable comes from the CMS Enrollment Database; an additional race classification variable is available in the data files, called RTI Race – which more accurately captures the proportion of Hispanics and Asians.

Medicare Enrollment by Coverage Type, 2008 - 2017

Description: The proportion of beneficiaries with a full year of fee-for-service coverage (11 or 12 months) decreased from 64.9% in 2008 to 52.9% in 2017.

Technical Notes: Counts include all Medicare beneficiaries who were enrolled in Medicare on or after January 1 of the year. Full or Nearly Full fee-for-service (FFS) indicates the beneficiary had 11 or 12 months of both Part A and Part B fee-for service coverage, or for persons who died during the year, from January 1 until date of death. Non-FFS indicates the beneficiary had less than 11 months of Part A and Part B fee-for-service coverage includes people with more than one month of HMO coverage. Some FFS beneficiaries are participants in case or disease management demonstration projects (effective 2005 forward). These beneficiaries are not considered to have HMO coverage during these months.

Medicare Enrollment by Medicare Status, 2008 - 2017

Description: The proportion of beneficiaries classified as Disabled has been quite stable over time, from 16.5% of beneficiaries in 2008 to 15.1% in 2017.

Technical Notes: Counts include all Medicare beneficiaries who were enrolled in Medicare on or after January 1 of the year. Classification used the Medicare status code, and combined end stage renal disease (ESRD) and Disabled categories into the “Disabled” grouping.

Medicare Enrollment by Dual Status, 2008 - 2017

Description: The proportion of beneficiaries classified as dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid has increased slightly over time, from 15.9% in 2008 to 16.5% in 2017. The proportion eligible for full dual benefits has changed very little over time (12.7% in 2008 to 12.1% in 2017), however the proportion eligible for partial dual benefits has increased from 3.3% in 2008 to 4.3% in 2017.

Technical Notes: Counts include all Medicare beneficiaries who were enrolled in Medicare on or after January 1 of the year. Classification used the state-reported dual status code (variable called DUAL_STUS_CD_MM) to identify beneficiaries dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. Dual coverage was defined as DUAL_STUS_CD_MM = 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06 or 08 for 11 or 12 months of the year, or until time of death. A beneficiary was considered a full benefit dual if they had DUAL_STUS_CD_MM = 02, 04 or 08 for a minimum of one month during the year. All other duals were considered partial.

Medicare Enrollment, 2017 by Age Group

Description: The population aged 65-74 years comprises the largest age grouping for beneficiaries (48.6% of all beneficiaries).

Technical Notes: Counts include all Medicare beneficiaries who were enrolled in Medicare on or after January 1 of the year. Age is calculated based on the age of the Medicare beneficiary as of December 31. If the beneficiary expired, the age is calculated based on age at time of death.

Medicare Enrollment, 2017 by Racial Group

Description: The white racial group comprises the largest proportion of beneficiaries, by racial group (79.5% of beneficiaries).

Technical Notes: Counts include all Medicare beneficiaries who were enrolled in Medicare on or after January 1 of the year. American Indian, Native American, Other, and Unknown races are grouped together due to small cell sizes.

Medicare Enrollment by Age Group and FFS Status, 2008 - 2017

Description: The majority of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in fee-for-service (FFS) rather than managed care (i.e., Medicare Advantage [MA] plans). Beginning in 2007, there is a shift away from FFS, which is more pronounced each year. Medicare enrollees who were 65-74 years of age were the least likely group to select FFS Medicare. By 2017, the proportion of beneficiaries 65-74 years old who were FFS declined to 47.8%.

Technical Notes: Counts include all Medicare beneficiaries who were enrolled in Medicare on or after January 1 of the year. Full or Nearly Full fee-for-service (FFS) indicates the beneficiary had 11 or 12 months of both Part A and Part B fee-for service coverage, or for persons who died during the year, from January 1 until date of death. Non-FFS indicates the beneficiary had less than 11 months of Part A and Part B fee-for-service coverage includes people with more than one month of HMO coverage. Some FFS beneficiaries are participants in case or disease management demonstration projects (effective 2005 forward). These beneficiaries are not considered to have HMO coverage during these months. Age is calculated based on the age of the Medicare beneficiary as of December 31, YYYY. If the beneficiary expired, the age is calculated based on age at time of death.

Medicare Enrollment by Coverage Type and Racial Group, 2017

Description: The racial group with the highest proportion of people with full/nearly full fee-for-service (FFS) coverage was white (55.2%). For the remainder of racial groups the proportion of non-FFS was higher than FFS. For the black racial group, 46.3% were enrolled in FFS.

Technical Notes: Counts include all Medicare beneficiaries who were enrolled in Medicare on or after January 1 of the year. Full or Nearly Full fee-for-service (FFS) indicates the beneficiary had 11 or 12 months of both Part A and Part B fee-for service coverage, or for persons who died during the year, from January 1 until date of death. Non-FFS indicates the beneficiary had less than 11 months of Part A and Part B fee-for-service coverage includes people with more than one month of HMO coverage. Some FFS beneficiaries are participants in case or disease management demonstration projects (effective 2005 forward). These beneficiaries are not considered to have HMO coverage during these months. American Indian, Native American, Other, and Unknown races are grouped together due to small cell sizes. An additional Race classification variable is available from 2006 forward, called RTI Race – which more accurately captures the proportion of Hispanics.

Medicare Enrollment, 2017

Description: The number of people enrolled in Medicare varied by state. There were a total of 61.4 million Medicare beneficiaries in 2017. Washington DC had the smallest number of beneficiaries (95,981), and California had the largest (6,270,383).

Technical Notes: Counts include all Medicare beneficiaries who were enrolled in Medicare on or after January 1 of the year.